


Offer to Fen'Harel

by Lafaiette



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Post Trespasser
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-11 01:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7869676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lafaiette/pseuds/Lafaiette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She passes a hand over the wolf’s snout and murmurs: “Hello, <i>vhenan</i>.”</p><p>Only silence follows, of course, but it was nice to say that word again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Offer to Fen'Harel

She doesn’t know what she was expecting. Perhaps she hoped to see him sitting on one of the many wolf statues that decorate the Emerald Graves or sleeping under the tall trees whose shade is both comforting and sorrowful.

She knows traveling alone isn’t the best idea right now. Her mechanical arm still hurts her and she can’t use it well; even if many months have passed since that fateful day in the Crossroads, her body still feels weak and there is a certain heaviness in her limbs and heart that she cannot shake away.

Only dreams seem to bring her comfort. Is this how Solas felt at the beginning?

She knows the others at Skyhold are probably worried sick about her sudden disappearance, but she isn’t Inquisitor anymore and she cannot give them orders just like they can’t give her theirs. 

She is wearing Dorian’s gift, anyway, the magical crystal that allows them to talk even despite the great distance that separates them; he hasn’t contacted her yet, so she assumes either Josephine’s crows still haven’t reached him or they did and he told her to leave her alone.

She reaches one of the ruins where once an Inquisition camp stood. She can still see the traces of it, left on the ground after years of patrols: the scorched stones where the hearth used to be, the holes caused by the nails of the tents, the black marks on the white walls left by the flames of the torches lit at night.

She loved this camp dearly. It was where Solas first started to teach her written Elvhen and where she told him a joke that made him laugh and giggle until tears of mirth were streaming down his face.

Another kind of tears fills her eyes and she sniffles, walking over to the wolf statue placidly looking over the ruins. She is sure this doesn’t depict Fen’Harel, but one of the Emerald Knights’ Guardians instead, but she doesn’t care. 

It’s identical to the statues of Fen’Harel she saw in the oldest ruins, those dating back to Elvhenan and not the kingdom of Halamshiral, so it will be perfect all the same.

She passes a hand over the wolf’s snout and murmurs: “Hello, _vhenan_.”

Only silence follows, of course, but it was nice to say that word again. She can still remember the first time she said it, timid and blushing, and Solas’ face when he heard it, the way he lit up and then a great tenderness appeared in his eyes.

She remembers all the times he said it to her and her tears threaten to spill. She misses hearing him say it. So she sniffles again and sits against the statue, her small leather bag kept between her legs.

“I have something for you.” She smiles at the statue, as if she really was talking to him. Then she opens her bag and takes out a flower crown that she made along the way as she walked through the quiet forest. 

There are no more Red Templars and Freemen to bother people here and for a moment, while she entwined the flowers together, she felt at peace.

“I chose your favorite colors.” she says, getting up for a moment to place the flower crown on the wolf’s head. It fits it well and it’s big enough to be well visible. She smiles.

“You look great, _vhenan_.” A blush tints her cheeks red. “As always.” 

She sits back against the statue and waits some time before speaking again:

“We are going to leave Skyhold soon. We cannot use it any longer since the Inquisition is disbanded, so everyone is finding new places to live in or planning to go back to their families.” 

She distractedly rubs the stump of her left arm. The mechanical one Dagna made for her is in the bag, still too heavy and painful for her to be worn. She knows she is supposed to wear it whenever she can in order to get used to it, but she really wanted to ride and walk without it today.

“I… I don’t think I’ll go back to the clan. I mean, to live there forever.” She gently rubs the soft skin of her stump, grimacing when it starts to itch. “I will explain them everything, of course. I think word about the Dread Wolf and what happened at the Winter Palace is already going around, but I want to be the one to tell the truth about you to my family and friends.”

She looks up at the statue, its gaze as tender and gentle as ever, just like Solas’. How did she never notice the similarity before?

“I owe you that, _vhenan._ I don’t want any more lies about you to be spread.”

A light silence falls and she tucks a lock of red hair behind her ear before rummaging inside her bag and taking out another present: a beautiful quilt she sewed herself. 

There is an amicable, kind wolf and trees and sunrays sewn on it, a precious, shining, soft gift telling a story that she drapes over the statue’s back.

“Here.” she says softly, smiling. “I don’t know how to give it to you, so I guess this will do. Few people ever come here anyway, except for elves. And I’d be happy if an elf took it, because it tells the real story of the Dread Wolf.”

Her eyes swell with tears again and this time she lets them fall. 

“And if one of your agents should ever come here and see it, I hope they will bring it to you, so you will know I made it for you.”

She starts sobbing, memories of their time together resurfacing. She thinks of their nights spent in the tents, cuddling, kissing, talking, discussing theories, sharing stories, joking, and playing. She thinks of the battles and enemies they faced together, of the meals they shared and prepared for each other, of the domestic life they spent in Skyhold, of the kisses they gave each other every day, every day, whenever they could.

“I miss you, _vhenan_.” she cries, rubbing her eyes with her only hand. “I miss you _so much_.”

In the end, she stays there until the sun is leaving to be replaced by the stars and moon. She secures the quilt to the wolf statue and calls her hart, which never wandered too far. She begins the trip back to Skyhold, her bag lighter and her heart somewhat heavier, but also comforted. 

 

\- - - - 

 

Many nights after, she dreams a forest she never saw before, one that can only exist in dreams or in magical places like Arlathan.

The leaves are golden, but not the kind of brown and yellow usually used to describe the tones of autumn: these leaves are _really_ golden, shimmering like jewels all around her, and Scarlet holds her breath. 

Since she lost the Anchor, her dreams have never been much vivid, not like the ones of a mage anyway… except for the times when Solas enters hers and makes her dream with the same ability of a Dreamer. 

In those occasions, she always realizes that she is indeed dreaming and this is one of those. She knows this is the Fade and she knows Solas is here, hidden somewhere, watching her.

She tries to catch a glimpse of his lupine form among the trees and colorful bushes and flowers, but sees nothing. She can only sense his presence, comforting and familiar, and wait. And speak.

“Hello, _vhenan_.” she says softly, her heart beating fast. Even if she is going to see him just as a wolf, it doesn’t matter. It’s still him and she knows how hard it is for him to do this, how torn he feels.

“This place is beautiful!” she continues, looking around with wonder. “Did… did you make it?”

Something moves behind her, but she knows better than turn around and look. 

If Solas is getting closer, she doesn’t want to startle him. He may leave and…

Something is different today. She doesn’t know what it is, but the presence behind her feels… bigger. Taller? 

Is it a demon? Could it be that one entered her dreams? She isn’t a mage, though, how would that be possible?

Or maybe Solas got closer while in elven form? She only saw him like that out of the corner of her eyes, while he lets her see him completely while in wolf form and even got a bit close sometimes.

But now she can feel that he did not shapeshift. She can sense his normal, elven figure behind her and she feels like she is losing her mind. She wants to turn and wraps her arm - the only one she has now - around his neck and kiss him, but she knows it would mean his despair and pain.

He would kiss her back, no doubt about that, but then he would hide for weeks, maybe even months, fighting against his fears and the desire to stay with her.

Then he moves - she hears the leaves crunch beneath his feet - and something touches her back, she feels his hands and arms brush against her and…

He drapes the quilt she made for him over her shoulders and he wraps his arms around her, pulling her close until her back is pressed flush against his chest.

She feels his lips on her cheek and tears immediately run down her face as she starts breathing heavily. 

Solas squeezes her and begins to pepper her cheek with more burning kisses.

“Scarlet.” he says and her name sounds like a prayer, as if he found respite and redemption in it. “ _Vhenan_. Thank you.”

She giggles and nods, sniffling and sobbing as he keeps holding her. She rests her hand on his and her breath hitches in her throat: he is warm to the touch, just like she remembers him, and he lets out a blissful sigh as he feels her fingers rub gently the back of his hand.

They stay like that, surrounded by the golden leaves of the trees, and the last scene depicted on the quilt - two wolves running together in a forest - shines like a beacon of hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from Tumblr. Anon wanted [Scarlet](http://lafaiette.tumblr.com/scarletlavellan) to look for Solas in a forest and then speak to him in the Fade. I had a lot of fun writing this ; v ;


End file.
